


It Has Always Been You

by bleuspirit



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Background Character Death, Canon Compliant, Disregards LOK, F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25046035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleuspirit/pseuds/bleuspirit
Summary: Four years after the Hundred Year War, Fire Lord Zuko’s reign is threatened when a number of his citizens suddenly fell ill. Unable to determine the cause, Zuko seeks out Katara’s help to manage the situation.Accompanied by assassination attempts, Azula as her brother’s personal bodyguard, and buried old ‘feelings’, Katara embarks on another life-changing field trip with Zuko.
Relationships: Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 39





	1. The Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fire Lord Zuko has been receiving a series of bad news.

The teacup sitting across him was still empty, and the kettle was slowly losing its heat. Heavy droplets had increasingly hit his window panes faster by the minute and Zuko couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably in his place, fingers tapping on his leg every now and then. He took a small sip from his half empty cup of already lukewarm tea as his mind wondered about his uncle’s safety amidst today’s rain. He was supposed to arrive about an hour ago from Ba Sing Se, but with the weather condition, Zuko had to wait in agony.

To distract his mind, he instead opted to scan the reports sitting on his coffee table regarding the most recent assassination attempt against him. After a year’s peace free from any death threats, Zuko found himself a week ago narrowly missing an arrow by his neck while he was out attending a festival ceremony. The arrow turned out to be laced with poison. Upon hearing of the incident, Iroh insisted on returning to the Fire Nation immediately.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times Zuko reread the reports over and over again, it still reached the same conclusion — there had been no sightings of the perpetrator. Their only lead so far was that he or she or they had been sitting atop the trees based on the arrow’s angle. Zuko clicked his tongue in disappointment. The previous assassination attempts (all of which were by Ozai loyalists) have been successfully quelled so far by the overwhelming increase of supporters he has gained in his first four years. There were still some disagreements and protests here and there, but Zuko had been generally doing pretty okay on his own now — at least in his own country. The previous Earth Kingdom colonies was the current source of most of his stress. To this, Zuko heated his own cup again to release some steam.

His chamber doors suddenly bursted open and Zuko almost dropped his teacup. The freshly heated tea came spilling on his lap and he hissed loudly at the contact. If it hadn’t been for his thick regalia, it would have probably made a more stinging sensation. He didn’t need to avert his eyes to know who came in by surprise. There were only four people who can do that, although it was really against royal protocol — Ty Lee (who was in Kyoshi Island), Toph (who was back in Gaoling), Katara (who was currently in Ba Sing Se), and Iroh (who was supposed to arrive an hour ago). His uncle grimaced apologetically at the misfortune he has caused on his nephew.

“Oh, dear…” Iroh whispered to himself.

“I’m fine, Uncle,” Zuko tried to assure the old man albeit he was groaning in pain. He allowed himself to dry up, and the steam from his stained pants carried with it the scent of jasmine as it wafted through the room.

“I’m terribly sorry at the rude entrance, my nephew. I hadn’t had a night’s rest since I heard about what had happened!” Iroh exclaimed as he rushed to wrap Zuko tightly in his arms. The momentary mild annoyance he had from the burn instantly dissipated upon receiving the comfort he dearly missed. Zuko instinctively hugged his uncle back, as the latter continued to say his sorries.

Iroh’s apologies had come to a halt when he took sight of the kettle prepared for him. The twinkle in his eyes was hard not to miss as he broke off and clasped his hands in delight.

“I haven’t reheated that one yet. It had been sitting there for an hour,” Zuko said. Iroh proceeded to rub his hands gleefully and put one palm on the porcelain as he took a seat. Steam soon rose from the spout and the room was filled one more time with the jasmine’s fragrance. Zuko gladly offered to pour a cup for his uncle. “How was your trip? We hadn’t had this much downpour in the Fire Nation for a while,” he noted. A thunder could be heard in the distance.

Iroh gracefully gestured his hand towards his face to bring the tea’s aroma fully under his nose, inhaling all that he could. “We had to slow down the airship when we reached Fire Nation waters!” He exclaimed. “I had to take an armored carriage to get here since the storm is even worse here in the capital!”

Zuko chuckled good-humoredly. “Well, I’m glad you’ve arrived safely, Uncle.”

After taking a satisfying sip, Iroh spared no time and went to interrogate Zuko about the recent assassination attempt. Zuko handed him the files he was reading earlier. The old general’s brows furrowed deeper as he read through the pages; his eyes were gradually losing its warmth. “That’s some skill for this heavily guarded event,” he remarked seriously.

“Too bad his skills don’t include precision,” Zuko half-heartedly joked, to which Iroh did not find amusing. The drumming of the raindrops continued to echo in the large room and the thunders became increasingly louder as the heavy silence engulfed the both of them. Iroh hummed in disagreement as he continued to flip the report.

Three knocks interrupted the seemingly endless static noise. A booming voice by one of his guards resonated through the thick metal doors, “Chief Advisor Xiu wishes to enter, my Lord.”

Zuko allowed his advisor in. There came a fragile looking man with his back slightly hunched from old age. He was one of the oldest Fire Sages in the palace and a loyal servant of Iroh — even after Ozai usurped the throne. He was pleased to see his old master again and bowed with what he could muster with his terrible back condition. However, pleasantries aside, Xiu’s face began to show worry.

“I’m afraid I only bring terrible news,” he started. Zuko and Iroh exchanged more uneasy glances. Zuko straightened his back in an attempt to suppress a surge of panic rising from the pits of his guts.

“What is it?”

“The Health Division has declared an outbreak in the North.”


	2. The Return of the Painted Lady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As she continues to travel around the Earth Kingdom, Katara learns of the protests against the Fire Nation and comes across a small family.

Katara stepped into the Jasmine Dragon for the second time that day. A full house beneath the bright lights greeted her as she made her way in. Standing near the counter was the manager, Ting, craning his neck to oversee the entire operation of the shop. He instantly noticed Katara carefully making her way through the rushing waiters carrying fragile kettles and china. Ting beamed warmly at her and hurriedly escorted her to her usual secluded spot. He then apologized that he had to rush back to attend to the other customers, but promised to bring her her usual peppermint tea with extra soba noodles for dinner. It had been a long day at the hospital that it was only after she took a seat did Katara feel her body ache sorely. She summoned some water from her water skin and attempted to alleviate the aching muscles of her shoulders.

She frequented the Jasmine Dragon upon her arrival in the city. When Iroh learned of her one month stay, he insisted that she come visit him everyday if she’d like. Iroh would also let her in the shop earlier than their opening time and they would occasionally have a nice morning chat by the balcony, greeting the sun as it made it past through the horizon. _As an early riser, it’s an absolute delight to have someone over for an early morning tea!_ He’d say very gleefully.

Earlier that morning was the same. She stopped by before her final shift in the city hospital and told Iroh of her plans to stay at the Foggy Swamp this time. She thought it was time for her to teach them more about the healing properties of water as well as to learn more about the way of life of the waterbenders there. She has heard of the thrilling stories of how they were once part of the Southern Water Tribe who moved to the Earth Kingdom seeking for warmer climate. Iroh encouraged her on, but also stated how he would miss her company. When Ting came back and arrived with her dinner and tea, Katara asked for the old general’s whereabouts.

“Oh, General Iroh had to leave this morning for the Fire Nation. He didn’t say why, but he was in a worried rush. I sure hope the Fire Lord is fine,” Ting told her as he readjusted his apron and fixed his nearly graying hair. “As you can see, that’s why were a bit of short-staffed tonight.”

A rush of panic rose from Katara’s chest. _This couldn’t be another assassination attempt, could it?_ There would be no other reason, Katara ratiocinated, why Iroh would hurriedly return to the Fire Nation. After thanking Ting and paying for her meal, Katara made a one last stop downtown. She ran to the nearest messenger hawk station and quickly wrote a note addressed to the Fire Nation palace.

The trip to the Foggy Swamp from Ba Sing Se would normally take around four days on an ostrich horse. This would be the fourth stop in her journey, having visited The Abbey and Harbor Town again. As she embarked the following sunrise, Katara couldn’t help but feel uneasy again about traveling.

There were only a few people in the train on the way to the Ferry Waystation. The cool breeze of dawn was slowly shifting to a comfortable warmth the rising sun brought. Katara rested her head on the cold stone wall of the train as she let the morning wind brush through her hair. As cheesy as it sounded, the wind always reminded her of Aang — and it was basically hard to avoid. In some days, she would no longer unconsciously associate any air related things to him; but at static times like this, riding the train again like this, made her mind drift of to all kinds of memories with the airbender.

She broke it off at the Northern Air Temple, no less. Aang, Teo, and his father were renovating the temple together with the new air acolytes. As Aang’s girlfriend, she had to tag along to learn more about Air Nomad culture. She was, of course, happy to come, but the journey there hadn’t been…so pleasant as she’d hoped. She assured Aang that it wasn’t his fault really, but admittedly, it had been a terribly difficult conversation. She still felt lightheaded whenever she would recall it. The ugly cries, the hitching pleas — all of them were suffocating to remember. As they had both calmed down and reached to their conclusion, she told him that she would like to travel the world and this time alone. Aang was insistent to at least take her to The Abbey — her first stop — on Appa. And that was the last time they saw each other, bidding goodbye in a bittersweet fashion.

The bit of excitement she held in the beginning at the idea of full independence was swiftly crushed when she had a reality check. Her stops were fairly welcoming of her help, but the quick stopovers she had between them were tiresome. On her way to Harbor Town, she stopped by a village formerly under the tyrannical rule of the Fire Nation. It had been a good four years since the end of the war, but the village still had to see the improvement in their resources and livelihood. Katara knew of Zuko’s plans for the colonies as part of the reparation treaties, however these villages seemed to reject all sorts of aid from their former enemy nation.

_Why can’t they just give us money and leave us alone?_ An elderly woman once spat out. These villagers physically drove off Fire Nation men offering to educate them about the new trading system that was supposed to be beneficial for both nations. Katara always tried to step in and mediate the situation, but was always defeated as the villagers stood their ground. And in these times, she was left pondering on whether the situation would have been any different if she was with Aang. He always knew exactly what to say in order to reach a compromise, leaving her like an unseen ghost, unable to raise her voice. She would eventually shrug off the idea — after all, wasn’t _that_ the very reason why she broke up with him?

Her reminiscing was cut short when the doors of the train rumbled as it opened. Katara carried her luggage like a sack of feathers and got off, finally taking the steamboat back to the other end of the station. When she arrived, there were ostrich horses lined up for sale and she bought back the one she had sold to them previously when she had entered Ba Sing Se.

On her three day trip, she was prepared to encounter similar towns and villages. The few chats she had with Iroh helped her formulate a better encouragement speech. She had long admitted that she does in fact give an awful lot of speeches about hope, but Iroh helped her refine them to be more engaging. But she was fairly surprised when she hadn’t encountered a similar protest in the first few days. It was only on the third night when the trip became eventful.

Katara arrived in the afternoon at an old plains village sitting by the edge of the desert. The sun was strikingly hot and her skin was already sticky from sweat. Her straw hat did no help at all in keeping her head cool. She climbed off her equally exhausted ostrich horse and asked the nearest local if they had food and lodging there.

Upon seeing her water tribe garb and her iconic necklace, the local villager immediately exclaimed in recognition and bowed. “Oh my, Master Katara! It is an honor to have you around! What brings you here?”

The man was thin and had short stubbles jutting out of his chin. He looked scruffy but so did most of the village-folk around. But what really stood out the most was the strip of burned skin across the man’s arm. Katara, not wanting to be rude, averted her attention from his scar and thanked the man for acknowledging her.

“I’m headed to the Foggy Swamp. I just need a night’s rest and some supplies,” she smiled warmly.

“Oh, we don’t really have a lodging in our ol’ village. But we could ask some families around here to offer you a room. I can’t offer my own, though, since there’s already twelve of us in the house!” The man embarrassingly laughed.

As he and Katara were about to head out, a commotion could be heard from the distance. From afar, the rest of the villagers were crowding at an alley, angrily hurling profanities against someone unseen from their point of view.

“What’s happening?” Katara bewilderedly asked the man. He only stood on his toes to check the situation and shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“They’re here again,” the man shook his head.

“Who?” Asked Katara even more curiously.

“Those good-for-nothing Fire Nation men. Offering us a new trading system and whatnot,” he scoffed.

Katara’s head whipped towards the chaos. _Again_ , she thought. Her face hardened as she stretched her neck to see for herself what was going on, and upon that the local man immediately realized his mistake.

“O-oh, dear,” he stuttered. “I…I didn’t mean to offend Fire Lord Zuko, Master Katara! But you see, we just don’t want anything to do with them, you know! With the trauma they brought to us…” he dejectedly trailed off.

Katara turned to him with a sigh and a slumped shoulder. She now took notice of the scars on his arms and looked again at the rest of the angry villagers. It wasn’t exactly clear from where she was standing, but she has seen countless of burnt skin that it was impossible not to notice one, even from afar. Most of the men had them, too. Around their arms and their legs.

“You were a soldier in the frontlines, weren’t you?” She asked.

With a downcast look, the man nodded.

“I’ll take care of this,” she said as she bravely walked towards the crowd. She was ready to take on this. As she neared, she saw three poor Fire Nation men cornered by the frail looking but aggressive villagers. She knew that Zuko had a protocol for them to never use fire bending as a defense, even if their lives were at stake. He insisted on employing a hand-to-hand combat in worst case scenarios so as to no longer provoke even more animosity.

Before things could even escalate to that point, Katara made her way in and stood her ground in front of them; she could hear their sigh of reliefs. The crowd immediately recognized her and instantly backed off, low murmurs circulating among them. “Let them leave peacefully for peace sake,” she addressed the crowd. With a few grumbling and icy glares, they dispersed without comment and made way for the three guys cowering behind her.

“Just go back home for now. I’ll speak with Zuko on your behalf,” she turned to them and spoke softly. The three scurried back to their komodo-rhinos and left the village alone.

Katara wanted to speak to the community with her perfectly readied speech, putting on a confident front, but they had been slowly going back to their homes no longer as welcoming to her as she’d hoped. _So much for having a place to stay_ , she muttered in her thoughts. The man earlier was still standing on where she left him, but instead apologetically bowed as a sign of goodbye.

As her gaze trailed him while he disappeared into the streets, Katara felt a small tug on her sleeve. A slightly shorter young boy was gleaming at her, two front teeth protruding.

“Oh, hi?” Katara awkwardly acknowledged him. He looked around twelve or thirteen, with spiky hair and a neat bun sitting atop of his head.

He scratched his nape apologetically and swayed his head anxiously from side to side. He was rocking his body from heels to toes. “I know this is probably too much to ask of you, Master Katara, but would you please see my mother? She’s very sick and my brother and I couldn’t afford any medicine anymore,” he earnestly confessed. “I heard you were an excellent healer.”

Greatly flattered by the sudden compliment, Katara instantly agreed. “Oh, of course! I’d love to help out.”

“We also have a spare room if you’re looking for a place tonight,” the young boy offered. “I know our place isn’t much, but we could give you some food and supplies.”

“You don’t have to worry so much about me. I’m already thankful for the offer,” Katara replied gratefully.

“Great!” he beamed at her as they head onto his house. “ I’m Lee, by the way.”

When they arrived, they were met by Lee’s older brother running after some chicken-pigs in their pen, screaming angrily about ‘staying put or else you’d be dinner tonight’. Katara chuckled at the sight. The older man spotted Lee from afar bringing with him a visitor. As they met by the pen’s fence, Lee’s brother couldn’t hide his surprise that _the_ Katara was their visitor.

“I saw her around town and I just knew I had to ask her for mom,” Lee’s tone was extra hopeful.

There was a shift, however, in the older man’s facial expression that Katara thought looked like hostility, but he nonetheless politely bowed to her as he quietly removed his dirtied gloves. He looked almost exactly like Lee except for his teeth and his build. Katara could instantly tell that he was used to working with his muscular physique. His eyes were hollow and gray and he was constantly clenching his jaw as he looked at her direction. Katara shifted uncomfortably at where she stood. She wasn’t always met with reverence whenever she went, but the cold side-eyes the brother was unsubtly throwing at her felt too unsettling that she wanted to belatedly decline their offer to stay. She decided otherwise, though. After all, their mother did need medical attention.

The three of them headed to the house. As Lee’s brother walked ahead of them, Lee introduced him in his stead in a whisper, “That’s my brother, Sensu. I’m sorry if he’s a bit grumpy. He’s…been like that since he returned from the war.”

At the realization, Katara seemed to understand.

Their mother was unhealthily thin, probably due to her being bedridden for weeks. Her dark hair sticked to her skin from sweat, enhancing the evident definition of her cheekbones. Her lips looked chapped and drained, and Katara was afraid she’d break like a thin glass upon her touch. She was told by Lee earlier that their mother caught the flu and unfortunately her weak body did not take it well. Something about being overworked among other things.

A large tub filled with cold water was set up, and it was large enough to fit their mother in it. She groaned ever so weakly in pain as she was laid down gently by her younger son. As soon as the mother was settled in, Katara immediately took a stance — shoulders squared, deep breath, feet firm on the ground. Lee watched in awe as her arms began to gracefully move from left to right, the water in the tub dancing together with her movements. She developed this submerging technique while in The Abbey and frequently used it to heal all sorts of internal pains. It was akin to an ice bath, but with a powerful help from waterbending. Sensu, who was preparing dinner, took a few stolen glances of what was happening behind him.

With a few push and pulls, the water glowed as Katara continued to work the water. The mother winced for a moment, but eventually relaxed after a few seconds. The glow intensified around her head and a small cry came out of her lips. Lee worriedly hunched over to his mother, but Katara told him that that was normal. With a last twist of her hand, Katara gently calmed the water. The mother gasped for air and sat up straight, now able to lift her limbs. Lee couldn’t hold back the tears upon seeing her moving on her own and hurried to her side to embrace her. Katara looked over Lee’s shoulder and saw Sensu behind exhaling a relieved sigh. His eyes met Katara’s and a small grateful smile finally curved on his lips.

Dinner was served and all of them ate the roasted chicken-pig with gusto. It was when Sensu was cleaning up that Katara brought up what had happened earlier with the villagers.

“I know this might be a difficult topic, but I see it happening around the Earth Kingdom for a while now — may I ask, why wouldn’t you at least give the reparation aid a chance?”

The silence that followed her question was deafening as the brothers and their mother exchanged a grim look. Katara could hear the drumming of her heartbeat as she waited for their answer, fingers unconsciously tapping on her lap.

Sensu put down the dirty dishes with a loud sigh and signaled his brother to take care of them in his stead. The boy readily accepted the chore without a word. The older man headed out and as he reached the doorframe, he gestured to Katara to come with him. She reluctantly followed him outside, quite anxious to the mysteries this guy held.

When they reached the barn just across their home, Sensu spoke, gaze fixated on the roof.

“Fire Lord Zuko helped our dad fix that roof. He slept in there as a refugee,” he said quietly as he pointed inside. Katara didn’t really know what she was expecting him to say, but certainly it wasn’t that. Sensu went on. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. I know you have good intentions — hell, you’re a heroine for ending this war,” he laughed bitterly. His gruff voice echoed in her ears. “But I hope you understand that not everyone can forgive them that easily. Balance be damned, but it’s difficult.”

Katara realized that Sensu probably wasn’t that much older than her. She supposed that he was at least only two or three years older, but the battle marks particularly on his face and the trauma he definitely carried as a soldier aged him up.

“Our dad died in the war,” his voice was that of a whisper, but bore an unspeakable heavy weight. There was a slight crack in it, something that Katara was also painfully aware of as to why. She unconsciously clutched her mother’s necklace as a reflex and hummed in return. “He signed up the day Fire Lord Zuko left our village. He said he wanted to bring me home, but…we never even saw each other before he died.”

At this point, Katara finally found her voice. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Sensu,” she empathized.

“I don’t know if he has told you this, but he stood up against our very own soldiers here to protect my family. Zuko, I mean,” Sensu continued. “But then he spewed proudly that he was the Fire Lord’s son and all. It was a complicated day, my mother said.”

“That does sound like the old Zuko.” Both of them chuckled lightheartedly.

“I know he means well now and we’re all thankful to all of you for putting an end to this war. But for me and my family — and perhaps for anyone else that you’ve encountered — any reminder of the Fire Nation makes our stomachs sick. We don’t want to see them running around here, pushing for trade and consuming their goods.”

“But the Fire Nation will have a difficult time in extending the reparation aid if their resources are depleted,” Katara tried to reason. A small defeated smile was on Sensu’s face.

“I know…but…we need more time to process things I guess. I hope you understand.”

Katara still had a lot on her mind, all in bullet points as to why they should reconsider the reparation aid. The words and phrases were already at the tip of her tongue, wanting to escape as a voice of reason. But instead, she held back and opted to stand there in silence. War had always been a complicated thing.

“Thanks for healing our mother. You were great,” Sensu reluctantly patted Katara’s shoulder as he headed back home to retire for the night.

_Maybe next time_ , she thought.

When she left for the Foggy Swamp early the next morning, Lee handed her a folder piece of paper. “Please give this to him when you see each other again.”

Katara pocketed the letter and bid them goodbye.

She awoke to an aggressive shaking of her body, and Due’s high-pitched voice was piercing through her ears before she was fully awake. Katara tried to take a defensive position thinking there was an attack against the Swamp Tribe; but when her mind finally processed reality, Due was only screaming at her over a seemingly large red bird sitting atop Katara’s tent.

What both of them actually found was a messenger hawk clothed with golden carrier straps with a Fire Nation insignia marked on its hook. On its back lay an obvious royal scroll. The hawk tipped his head towards Katara before trying to land gently on her arm.

Due peeked over Katara’s shoulder as she unravelled the scroll and tried to make sense of the foreign characters. “What does it say, kin?”

Upon reading Zuko’s letter, Katara let out a gasp.

“I have to leave for the Fire Nation tonight.”


	3. Reunions

Zuko liked to bring Azula books. He says it’s a good way to entertain herself and pass time. On his last visit, he told her he has unearthed some old archives in the palace that contained old novels from the other nations. He suspected they were stashed away by Sozin himself. He handed her a worn-out old tale about the beginnings of Omashu and excitedly mentioned it was one of his favorites. Azula was momentarily happy — albeit she didn’t show it — at the thought that her brother had finally, _finally_ , brought her something educational, but to her disappointment, it was another one of his romance novels. The amount of these books Zuko has lent her made her quite suspicious that her brother was probably scheming to set her up with someone once she can leave her “rest house”. But she quickly rejected the idea and considered that her brother was just probably being his sappy self.

She has to admit though, she did finish all of the books he had sent her and quite quickly at that. She would, however, never ever admit it to him how much she enjoyed reading through the pages. At this rate, Zuko might just succeed in turning her into a hopeless romantic before they knew it. _Damn it._

She was reading in her secluded garden, already halfway through the book when she heard footsteps behind her — and definitely it wasn’t her brother. Zuko was ridiculously stealthy to her surprise to the point that the grass barely crunched under his foot; but today’s visitor felt like he was stomping on the ground, as if without worry in approaching her. Azula darted her gaze to the person behind her and a familiar old face greeted her.

Azula shot up from her seat in surprise, almost falling backwards in the process. “What brings you here?” Her voice hitched.

Technically, Zuko wasn’t the only visitor allowed to visit the premises, but he was the only one to ever come anyway. Iroh was always away like he had always been in her life. But given that Azula almost always lunged at him whenever he visited her in the past, he decided that it was probably best not to meet the princess while she was still recovering. So seeing him so up-close and personal was not a delightful surprise to her.

He was carrying a tray of what she suspected to be jasmine tea. Her brother always brewed her one whenever he came by and by this time, she was already too familiar with its scent along with probably over thirty flavors. Her uncle carried a calm smile with him as he settled down the tray on the metal table.

“May I interest you in a small talk, Princess?”

Azula flinched at the offer. She was always used to her uncle being uncharacteristically antagonistic towards her.

_Of course, you’re a monster;_ a small voice ran across her head.

She tried to immediately dismiss the invasive thought before it could get out of hand and focused more on calming her erratic breathing. She didn’t even know she was already catching her breath. When she had finally composed herself enough, Azula sat across her uncle, eyes full of suspicion.

“Just get to the point. Why are you really here?” She snapped at him. The hopeful smile on the old man’s face quickly disappeared and he huffed a long defeated sigh.

“I heard you are recovering well,” Iroh solemnly said as he poured her a cup. Azula bitterly looked away as she crossed her arms and gave an unenthusiastic shrug.

Sensing that he would probably not hurdle through the hostility right away, Iroh decided it was probably best to no longer beat around the bush. If there’s one thing he surely knew about his niece, it was that she hated wasting time. “There has been another assassination attempt,” he said firmly. At this, he noticed that Azula had shifted her eyes back to him, a little bit softer this time. She was listening.

Her furrowed brows were no longer converging. She slowly began to fiddle with her fingers as she purposely avoided to meet his eyes, pursing her lips at times as if trying to chew her words from escaping. Seeing how this was the first time her uncle has visited her in years, she began to feel queasy as unwelcoming thoughts slowly made their way to her mind again. “How…how is he?” Azula hesitantly asked. She now looked intently at Iroh as she waited for his answer. She wanted to throw up.

Iroh quickly caught on with Azula’s reaction and panicked himself, slightly choking on his tea, “Oh, he’s fine! He wasn’t hit or anything!” He put down his cup and frantically shook his head and hands.

Azula didn’t know she was holding her breath, but as soon as those words were spoken, she has to admit a feeling of relief swiftly washed over her like a cold stream. Her muscles relaxed, and she massaged her temples. She was already on a steady streak of no-relapse and she really couldn’t afford breaking that, not especially if in front of her uncle _again_. Iroh reflexively reached out to her in hopes of calming her down, but the princess only deflected his help.

“Gee, Uncle. For a minute there, I thought you were about to deliver some bad news,” Azula hissed.

“I apologize for the confusion, but I am actually here for some good news for you,” Iroh attempted to ease her.

Her ears perked up. Clearly, she could use some good news as her days were bleaker than ever before. Her routinely lifestyle of waking up, doing different therapeutic sessions, eating, and sleeping has been honestly getting to her. She was relieved to hear a few weeks ago that because of her good behavior, she was now allowed to practice bending twice a week — but under strict supervision of course. Azula slowed down in massaging her aching head and raised an eyebrow at her uncle. “Oh?”

“I am here to personally ask you a favor.”

—

When Katara stepped out of the airship upon arriving at the palace grounds, she was greeted by a number of royal servants to assist her around. She was informed by them that Zuko had just finished a council meeting and was in his study. As she treaded past through the enormous hallways of the palace, Katara felt a little bit guilty that she hasn’t visited Zuko for the past two years. She noticed that the palace had done some renovations that it was now more welcoming than its previous gloomy ambiance. The air was no longer thick with smoke and dread. Most notably, portraits of the past Fire Lords from Sozin to Ozai had been removed as well. Katara did want to drop by and visit but she too had been preoccupied traveling with Aang as well as developing their tribe. And on times that she was at the South Pole, Zuko had already come by for the yearly reparations. All they could do is to constantly exchange letters and send thoughtful gifts on their birthdays.

She soon arrived before the gigantic doors to Zuko’s study and one of his guards had announced her presence to the Fire Lord. However, no response was heard. Katara cocked her head in confusion as she was sure that he knew she was arriving today.

She and his guards exchanged puzzled looks. With the unnerving feeling that something might be wrong, she decided to open the doors herself, ready to assume a defensive stance should Zuko truly be in danger. The doors bursted open, and it turned out that the only danger Zuko was in was drowning all his paperwork with his drool.

He jolted up from an obvious deep nap upon the loud bang of his doors, and a sheet of paper was unfortunately glued to the side of his face. Katara snorted in disbelief at the sight while the royal guards behind her could not mask their relieved sighs.

Still in a daze, Zuko removed the paper off his face and gestured to his guards that he was fine. Katara herself dismissed them away while trying to hold back a smile. As the doors closed, she turned to face him with a teasing grin.

“I haven’t had a good night’s rest,” Zuko immediately defended himself as he cleaned his face and fixed his skewed crown.

“Yeah, I kind of put that together,” Katara chuckled, making her way to his desk. “I bet that council meeting was a drag, wasn’t it?”

“You bet,” Zuko scoffed lightheartedly and a smile remained on his face as Katara paced herself towards him. She was now much taller than he remembered. He recalled how the gang (mostly Sokka) became annoyed with him when he suddenly got a growth spurt a year into his reign. He absolutely loved the feeling of teasing them as he towered over them. Turns out Katara might have had her growth spurt herself.

“It’s good to see you, Zuko,” she reached out for a quick hug as soon as the gap between them closed. Zuko no doubt missed her presence in the palace and instantly welcomed her in his arms, returning a tight squeeze. And he was right, she did get taller. Her head now rests nicely under his chin.

“It’s good to see you, too.” He tiredly smiled at her as soon as they broke off. He lead her towards his receiving area and called for a servant to bring them some snacks.

After settling down sitting across each other, Katara went ahead to ask how he has been lately. She has only heard of his troubles from his letters and his uncle. Zuko would always end it with a light note assuring her that he’s been handling things pretty well and that there was nothing much to worry about. She took it for his word that he was indeed okay, but seeing him within reach told her a different story. Zuko’s eyes kind of sunk and drooped and he repeatedly stretch his neck presumably from fatigue. Katara knew being sleep-deprived might as well be a description of Zuko’s personality, but this person right in front of her was downright at peak stress.

“You’ve been overworking yourself, haven’t you?” She asked with concern.

Taking a deep sigh, Zuko gestured to her the two piles of reports sitting in front of her that he prepared. “As much as I want to rest, it’s not really possible. That one’s all about the recent assassination attempt and the other one’s all there is about the outbreak,” he said wearily.

Katara took out a few pages from the outbreak pile and scanned them carefully, her face turning sour per line. Zuko had already briefly told her about their situation in his letter, but to read it in detail was even more upsetting. A number of Fire Nation citizens in the northern region have been falling sick one after the other without a lead as to what could have possibly caused it. All of them were exhibiting a combination of puzzling symptoms like high fever, hallucinations, swollen throats, and constant vomiting.

“Spirits, this is terrible,” she pointed out, horrified.

“Hira’a seems to be the ground zero as it recorded twenty-five out of thirty deaths. Most of their citizens have been unfortunately diagnosed. I just ordered its lockdown along with their neighboring towns. We’ll be going in tonight to check the situation.”

Katara nodded and hummed in response without taking her eyes off the pages. Most of those who were hardly hit were middle-aged to the elderly. Graphic descriptions of each deceased patient’s ordeal were written that she had to put the papers down for a while. Zuko returned the same worried expression.

“Is it contagious?” Katara asked.

“We can’t come to a firm conclusion yet, but it doesn’t seem to be. The medical team dispatched to those places didn’t seem to show symptoms.”

“So it must be from a direct source in those towns,” Katara offered, trying to piece together this problem.

“Yes,” Zuko confirmed. “That’s our lead so far. But we’ve checked their food and water supply, and nothing seems out of the norm. They’ve had the same supply since time immemorial. It’s a real headscratcher.”

He watched her intently as she continued to silently immerse herself in assessing the reports, whispering lowly to herself of what seemed to be her suspicions about the outbreak. Zuko was fairly relieved to have her with him in handling this situation, fully trusting her abilities and judgement. She wrote to him about her “healing adventures”, as she’d like to call it, in the Earth Kingdom and all the new techniques she has picked up along the way. The latest letter she sent in was asking him if there had been another assassination attempt and that she was headed to the Foggy Swamp should he reply back to her. However, admittedly, Zuko felt a bit of guilt for pulling Katara out of her personal journey especially that she was still probably healing from the break up.

“You know I wouldn’t ask you to come all the way here if we could handle it ourselves. So really, thank you, Katara.”

She offered him a reassuring smile. “Zuko, you know I would come in a heartbeat if you asked. It’s fine.”

“Uncle told me more about your work in Ba Sing Se. He suggested that maybe your healing abilities can at least alleviate their pain, or even maybe heal them. It’s a long shot, but the medicines we’ve been providing aren’t helping them at all.”

“There must be something that I could do, at least,” she suggested.

Suddenly, there were three knocks on Zuko’s door. With a grumbling stomach, Katara excitedly set aside the reports off the table to make way for the snacks Zuko had requested earlier. But the guards didn’t announce the presence of servants. Instead, they said it was Iroh accompanied by a visitor. When the doors opened wide, Katara’s heartbeat spiked as soon as _she_ made herself in. Those red stained lips and a vicious pair of golden eyes were unmistakable.

“Hello, Zuzu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally deleted the first chapter a few weeks ago while I was trying to edit it, so there has been some changes (altho not substantial) 🥺
> 
> But finally, Zutara’s here! And Azula too!


End file.
